You can start by replacing light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs. This is a great idea, considering they last much longer and will save you money on your electricity bill and protect the environment. What about taking shorter showers? Two or three minutes less saves 9-12 gallons of water. If you have noticed leaky faucets and pipes at home, fix them as soon as possible. A dripping tap can waste up to 2,000 gallons of water each year! Also, drive less: walk, ride a bike, or plunge in and swim to work. You’ll exercise and save money.

Always remember to dispose of trash properly: most trash eventually finds its way to the oceans. A simple piece of bubble gum takes 60 years to degrade and cigarette butts, like most human-made trash, are not biodegradable. Pick up trash when you see it, whether in the street, on the beach, in the sea, or anywhere else. Get a re-usable bag to go shopping and have your own water bottle to avoid buying water in disposable plastic bottles. 

You can also become a volunteer of the Marine Park and do your part in supporting Roatán’s conservation efforts!

On May 1st 2010, with backing from the Municipality, a mandatory mooring fee of $10 a day, $40 a week and $100 a month was introduced. Before the fee could be introduced with funding from Project AWARE, older moorings were renovated and additional ones were installed to accommodate 20 visiting vessels. To supervise the visiting yachts, a part time Park Ranger has been employed to monitor the vessels and to ensure that they pay and abide by the regulations. An additional benefit of employing the Ranger is so he can monitor the mooring field and Blue Channel, which are hotspots for poachers, with vast numbers of conch inhabiting the seagrass.

After much discussion with the West End Patronato and the Municipality, the RMP agreed to donate 50% of the monthly net income to the Patronato from the moorings, once Park Ranger salary, fuel charges and mooring maintenance costs have been deducted. By using money generated from the Mooring Fee, funds can be used to develop community focused projects, this way ensuring that visiting yachts are giving back to the community. We estimate, depending on the number of yachts and the length of their stays within the Park that anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000 a year will be generated through the introduction of this fee. Hopefully with this money, West End will benefit through the installation of new trash bins, renovation of the school or any other useful projects chosen by the Patronato.

Shark finning is an unsustainable method of commercial fishing, non-traditional, wasteful, and it is here in Honduras. The process involves cutting the fins from live sharks while at sea and dumping the living body overboard to drown. This wastes approximately 97% of each animal while preserving storage space on the boat to continue fishing for shark fins. Additionally, by-catch on the long lines set to catch sharks commonly results in 70% morbidity of everything caught, turtles, fish and sharks. The value of shark fins to the Asian market has exploded, due largely to the expansion of trade and growth of the Chinese economy and population.

Honduras is now joining countries like the USA, South Africa, Brazil, India and Costa Rica in taking the steps to protect coastal sharks from being killed for their fins. The Fisheries Department (DIGEPESCA) is addressing this threat to the marine legacy of the Honduran people as it now is working to pass a law banning the finning of targeted coastal species. Regarding the nurse and whale sharks, in 1999 Honduras led the way as one of the first countries to protect this species.

Of note, the new law addresses sharks commonly caught in the coastal plains, leaving reef sharks and hammerhead species vulnerable. With the growth of consciousness in the Bay Islands of the value of healthy reefs, fish populations and indeed sharks, to tourism, we can continue to work towards a marine management plan that ensures Hondurans a bright future as a destination for the environmentally conscious traveler.

Currently there is a lack of information about the spiny-tailed iguana, including all aspects of the basic biology as well as population size, extent of occurrence, and threats. It is estimated that only 5,000 individuals remain in the wild on Roatan, with a proportion of these residing at Sherman Arch’s iguana and Marine Park in French Cay. Iguanas play an important role in the regeneration of forests, with a species in Costa Rica recognized as being among the main seed dispersers for some plants of a deciduous forest.

As you travel around Roatan, you will often notice kids walking down the streets carrying iguanas or ladies offering iguana stew. While hunting of iguana is prohibited by law, there are no real active means of protection or management at national or local level. For a species on the Critically Endangered List, very little is done to protect these animals. Threatened by over-exploitation for local consumption, habitat destruction, and collection for the international pet trade, why do we not do more to protect them? How can it be illegal to hunt these animals, yet serving iguanas on menus results in no reprisal? Sadly only once species disappear do we recognize the wrongs of our ways. To protect the iguana for future generations, our government must take active steps in protecting them.

Detergent & Soap                   Elbow grease

Bleach                                        Hydrogen peroxide

Scouring Powders                Baking soda or salt

Floor Cleaner                         One cup white vinegar in 2 gallons water

Window Cleaner                    One cup vinegar in 1-quart warm water, rinse & squeegee

Varnish Cleaner                    Wipe with ½ cup vinegar & ½ cup water mixed

Toilet Cleaner                        Baking soda & brush

Shower Cleaner                     Wet surface, sprinkle baking soda, rub with scouring cloth

Aluminium Cleaner             2 Tablespoons cream of tartar in 1-quart hot water

Chrome Cleaner/Polish     Apple cider vinegar to clean, baby oil to polish

Fibreglass Stain Remover   Baking soda paste

Drain Opener                         Disassemble & replace; do not use toxic substances

Mildew Remover                 Paste using equal parts of lemon juice & salt

Wood Polish                          3 parts olive oil & 1 part white vinegar, almond or olive oil (interior unvarnished wood only)

A recent study commissioned by the European Commission estimates that up to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen washes off swimmers annually in oceans worldwide. Sunscreens are comprised of around 20 compounds which act as UV filters and preservatives. The study found that four of these compounds can awaken dormant viruses in the symbiotic algae, zooxanthellae, which live inside corals. The algae are vital in the coral’s survival and without them the coral bleaches, turning white and then dying. The chemicals found in sunscreen cause the viruses to replicate until their algal host explodes, spilling viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can infect neighboring coral communities. It was found that just a 20-minute dip could wash off about a quarter of the chemicals in the lotion, resulting in the chemicals ending on the reef. The study concluded that up to 10% of the world’s reefs are at risk from sunscreen-induced coral bleaching, a gloomy outlook.

While there are so many anthropologic threats to Roatan’s coral reefs, ranging from sedimentation, sewage, pollution and development, you can at least do your part and choose to use eco-friendly sunscreens. Also avoid using DEET if you intend to go immediately into the sea as this is toxic to plants and animals alike. The Marine Park Green Store stocks eco-friendly sunscreen and repellent, so do your part to prevent further bleaching!

Laundry Detergent

We stock an ultra-concentrated laundry detergent requiring just a half ounce per load of laundry. Its blend of biodegradable detergents, enzymes, and brighteners target stains and remove them without using toxic or corrosive chemicals.

All-Purpose Disinfectant Cleaner

This product uses a botanical disinfectant formula made with essential oil and citric acid. It is made from botanically pure plant extracts with pleasant aromatic vapors. These proven botanical ingredients kill over 99.9% of bacteria and viruses

Hand Dishwashing Liquid

The RMP stocks dish soap that leaves dishes spotless without harsh chemicals. Its formula contains biodegradable ingredients created with super-concentrated formulas.

Tub and Tile Cleaner

This Tub and Tile cleaner uses natural citric acid and oils to destroy soap scum, lime scale, and hard water spots. Unlike traditional cleaners, this cleaner does not contain chlorine bleach, strong acids like sulfuric acid that can be harmful if ingested, or phosphoric acid that can act like fertilizer to algae in waterways.

These are just a few of the products available that can help reduce environmental contamination on our island and in our waters. Because they are all highly concentrated they come in smaller bottles, which mean less plastic waste, and are competitively priced to traditional cleaners. You will find that it is possible to get a great product, help protect the environment, and save money at the same time.

Protected areas located in the MBRS contribute to the stabilization and protection of the coastal landscape, maintaining the quality of coastal water, and they are a place for the feeding and reproduction of marine mammals, reptiles, fish and invertebrates, many of which are of commercial importance. Also, the marine species are part of a large connectivity linkage. Unfortunately, there are a growing number of threats to the MBRS, from increased sedimentation from deforestation, overfishing of large predators and herbivores, and nutrients from untreated waste waters. All these impacts lessen the resilience of coral reef ecosystems.

Therefore, it’s urgent to ensure a sustainable management of the region’s marine natural resources. The countries within the MBRS have committed and declared the rescue, restoration, conservation and effective management. For this reason policies and regulations are being promoted at the regional and national levels and are being applied from the island of Contoy in the north of the Yucatan Peninsula, to the Bay Islands of Honduras. Locally, the Sandy Bay West End Marine Reserve is being managed by the Roatán Marine Park, through the promotion of research, education and conservation of our island’s valuable reefs.